Richard Sutcliffe

Leeds united and the classic song ‘I Believe in Father Christmas’ may not, on the surface, have too much in common.

However, just as singer Greg Lake was promised “snow” and “peace on earth” as a boy only to then suffer the let-down of rain and awaking to see Father Christmas “through his disguise”, United fans invariably end the festive season with dreams dashed.

A year ago, for instance, the Elland Road club slumped to a 2-0 home defeat against League One-bound Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day before being fortunate to escape with the same scoreline when losing at Derby County a few days later.

It is, in fact, six years since Leeds last claimed a festive victory but Steve Evans believes the time is right to change that ahead of his side taking on East Midlands duo Forest and Derby.

“Some players probably had too much turkey,” joked the Scot when asked about United’s poor Christmas run. “It is a time of the season where we are not known for collecting points and we have to change the history.

“This club hasn’t won a Christmas-period fixture since 2009 at Stockport. When that record goes on for five years, there is something wrong. But then this club took nearly eight months to win a home match (before beating Cardiff last month).

“I know some of that was over the summer period but it is just not right.

“Can it be right that the Leeds United’s supporters haven’t seen their team win a holiday fixture since 2009?

“If we don’t turn up and perform (tomorrow) then it might be a statistic which continues in my time but it would be nice to break it at the first opportunity.”

United head down the M1 buoyed by taking 10 points from their last four fixtures, a run that has lifted Evans’s men up to 13th in the table.

On Forest, Evans added: “They are a good side and they could have beaten MK Dons by five or six. They are gifted but we have got gifted players, too. There will be a fantastic Christmas atmosphere and we want to deliver.”